When Jurat Mike Liston and wife Lesley moved in to their Trinity home in 1992, they cleared the overgrown area of land and planted trees and shrubs.
But the strip was actually owned by their neighbour Joyelle Carry, who assumed the Listons’ green-fingered actions were a ‘pleasant gesture’ designed to encourage wildlife, and never raised the issue of ownership.
However, in 2015 she decided to officially reclaim the area and despite the Listons’ attempts to reach an agreement – including holding a meeting which Mr Liston secretly recorded – Ms Carry refused to sell the land.
And the Royal Court – made up of Jurats from Guernsey who were brought in to avoid suggestions of prejudice – recently found in her favour.
The Listons now have to give up the land, but have been told they can uproot and keep the trees – a pear tree, apple tree and plum tree – and shrubs.
Ms Carry, meanwhile, plans to plant a hedge, which the Listons say will have a ‘devastating impact’ on them.
Describing the history to the case, the Royal Court judgment states: ‘As with many disputes between neighbours, battle lines have been drawn, with positions deeply entrenched.’
According to court papers, the Listons cleared the area and planted the trees, as well as a hydrangea which was a gift from Mrs Liston’s late father, shortly after moving in.
To leave it overgrown would have ‘offended their sense of tidiness’, the court papers state. The couple have gardened the area ever since.
But in March 2015, a lawyer acting for Ms Carry wrote to the Listons advising that she wanted to incorporate the land into her garden, and was planning to establish a hedge in the area.
Jurat Liston then phoned his neighbour – who he claimed seemed ‘annoyed’ during the call, possibly in relation to work carried out at his house – and arranged a meeting which he secretly recorded on his smartphone.
During the conversation, Ms Carry said: ‘I didn’t mind you gardening it. I mean I always thought you looked after it in return for having the use of it, that was always my understanding, which I thought was fair enough…’
Jurat Liston, whose wife did not attend the meeting as she was not yet aware of the issue, replied: ‘That perhaps explains why you didn’t come around ranting when we suddenly put trees there.’
The conversation continued, with Ms Carry saying: ‘I wouldn’t expect someone to maintain my garden unless they had some use of it, you know.’
And the Jurat replied: ‘Yeah, and we wouldn’t have been doing anything on anyone’s garden if it wasn’t ours.’
Mrs Carry went on to describe it as a ‘complete misunderstanding’. She later informed her neighbours that she was not prepared to sell at any price.
The Listons went on to claim that they had acquired ownership of the land through the doctrine of ‘proprietary estoppel’, but the court rejected the claim.
